Cheney, Wash. - The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team bounced back to complete the 7-0 sweep at home over Lewis-Clark State (Saturday, Feb. 13), one day after it suffered a road defeat at Gonzaga.
With today's win, Eastern's dual match record improves to 6-3.
In the doubles competition, EWU rolled past Lewis-Clark State winning all three matches. Senior Moira Hedberg paired with junior Erin Blessing dominated in the No. 1 spot, winning 6-0 against Lauren Lang and Deanri Human. Freshman Jennifer Lewis made her dual match debut today, teaming up with sophomore Rachel Swindell to defeat Stephanie Buckingham and Anna Rodriguez, 6-2, in the No. 2 spot. Junior Dani Young and sophomore Janaya Smith also claimed a doubles victory, topping Hannah Uhlenkott and Kianna Arthur, 6-4, in the No. 3 spot.
Singles was more of the same, with every Eagle winning in straight sets. Hedberg played in the number one spot, defeating Lang 6-2, 6-3. Eastern also saw Swindell, Young, and Blessing, record convincing wins. Swindell beat Uhlenkott 6-2, 6-1, while Young handled Buckingham 6-0, 6-2, and Blessing won 6-1, 6-0 over Human. Continuing her great debut, Lewis won her first singles dual match 6-1, 6-1 against Arthur. Carolina Lopez also made her first appearance in singles play in 2016, beating Rodriguez 6-2, 6-3.
Against Gonzaga on Friday, Feb. 12, Â Janaya Smith kept her singles match close, losing a tiebreaker on the first set 7-6 (7-2), then dropping the second set 6-3. Moira Hedberg won her first set, 7-5 against Samantha Polayes, before dropping the second set 6-2. In the final set, she nearly took home Eastern's only win, losing 1-0 (10-7).
Head coach Dustin Hinson shared his thoughts on the team's recent performance, "We played a very tough Gonzaga team on Friday but I'm really pleased with the energy and intensity we brought to the match. We were close in a few of the matches and we know the team score could have come out much closer. My post match talk with the team was centered around responding well to our loss and using it as motivation rather than allowing it to frustrate us. We responded very well on Saturday against LCSC and dominated the match from start to finish. We have a very important conference road swing ahead of us next weekend and I believe this weekends matches was a great way to prepare. We are excited for what's ahead and we are ready to tackle each conference match with high energy and effort."
On the season so far, the doubles combo of Moira Hedberg and Erin Blessing have gone 7-2 in duals, with their only losses coming against Washington and Gonzaga on the road.
EWU's next match of the season will be against Big Sky Conference opponent North Dakota on the road, on Friday, Feb. 19, starting at 1 p.m. PST.
Results:
Eastern Washington – 0
Gonzaga – 7
Doubles:
1. POLAYES, Samantha/WHITTLE, Sophie (GON) def. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 6-3
2. YATES, Melanie/BOURGUIGNON, Alex (GON) def. HEDBERG, Moira/BLESSING, Erin (EWU) 6-2
3. KOEHLER, Sissi/GARLEY, Domonique (GON) def. YOUNG, Dani/DOMINGO, Katrina (EWU) 6-3
Singles:
1. Whittle, Sophie (GON) def. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
2. Polayes, Samantha (GON) def. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
3. Apollo, Nevada (GON) def. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) 6-0, 7-5
4. Bourguignon, Alex (GON) def. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Rosas, Graciela (GON) def. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Garley, Domonique (GON) def. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 6-1, 6-2
Â
Eastern Washington – 7
Lewis-Clark State – 0
Doubles:
1. Hedberg/Blessing (EWU) def. Lang/Human (LC) 6-0
2. Young/Smith (EWU) def. Uhlenkott/Arthur (LC) 6-4
3. Swindell/Lewis (EWU) def. Buckingham/Rodriguez (LC) 6-2
Singles:
1. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) def. LANG, Lauren (LC) 6-2, 6-3
2. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) def. UHLENKOTT, Hannah (LC) 6-2, 6-1
3. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) def. BUCKINGHAM, Stephanie (LC) 6-0, 6-2
4. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. HUMAN, Deanri (LC) 6-1, 6-0
5. LOPEZ, Carolina (EWU) def. RODRIGUEZ, Anna (LC) 6-2, 6-3
6. LEWIS, Jennifer (EWU) def. ARTHUR, Kianna (LC) 6-1, 6-1
